If we were to make a list of the main concerns of today's society, it is very unlikely that among them we would find worry about the fate of the soul. But, as always happens when looking at the past, this was not always the case.
PURGATORY: THE HISTORY OF A BELIEF
In the world preceding our contemporary reality, specifically until the 19th century in the West, living conditions for the population were really harsh. Life was short, and precisely because of this, the discourse about transcendence and the fate of the soul had an undeniable prominence. The concern over what might happen after death was a real worry since the daily experience of pandemics, diseases, and famines brought people close to the evidence of life's end.
To answer these questions, Christianity developed a discourse that spread in the form of sermons and speeches to make it accessible to everyone, and which contemplated a very particular scenario. According to contemporary belief, when a person died their soul began a journey that could lead them to two places: Heaven, where they would achieve salvation, and Hell, where they would be eternally damned. However, throughout the Middle Ages, the idea emerged that not all souls were saved or condemned automatically, but rather there was an intermediate place to which most of them went, with the goal of expiating sins committed in life so as to eventually achieve salvation. This place was Purgatory. It is a belief with undeniable importance, though certainly within the Catholic world.
The belief gradually took root in the minds of believers over the centuries, until it became one of the pillars of the contemporary vision of the afterlife. In its early stages, Purgatory was little more than a place halfway between Heaven and Hell, but over time the idea of this ethereal middle ground changed. As Jacques Le Goff studied, this intermediate site began to resemble Hell more and more, to the point where souls dwelling there were tormented by the fires of Purgatory. This vision remained in the minds of believers thanks to what are known as «soul paintings», very common in the Hispanic world during the modern era.
But of course, how could a person stand idly by knowing that the souls of their fellow beings might be being tormented in this mysterious place? Could anything be done for these unfortunate entities? The truth is that it could. Along with the idea that souls suffered indescribable pains as a result of Purgatory's fire, the belief solidified that masses were an excellent help. Even it was believed that prayers would eventually free the souls from their miseries and send them definitively to Heaven. Such was the effectiveness of the masses, also called suffrages, that there even existed the belief that souls appeared to the living to ask for help and request celebrations in their honor.
CONCLUSIONS
In this first part of our journey through beliefs, we have explored the importance of souls in the mindset of the time. It was considered that these tormented souls asked for help from the living to be rescued with masses and prayers. It had to be ensured that celebrations were regular and numerous with the aim of helping as many unfortunate souls as possible, taking them out of Purgatory. For this purpose, a system was devised to ensure the regular celebration of masses: chaplaincies. In the next article, we will see what they were and how they worked.
Bibliography
Ariès, P. (1983). The Man Before Death. Madrid: Taurus
Caro Baroja, J. (1978). Complex Forms of Religious Life. Madrid: Akal.
Le Goff, J. (1981). The Birth of Purgatory. Madrid: Taurus.
Von Wobeser, G. (2011). Heaven, Hell and Purgatory during the Viceroyalty of New Spain. Mexico: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.
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